The Apostrophe Literary Term is a figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and was able to reply.
Apostrophe: a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person or personified abstraction absent or present.
Apostrophe - Here are a few examples of apostrophes.
Shakespeare: Julius Caesar
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.
—Shakespeare, Julius Caesar 3.1.254-257
Effects & Meaning: This passage from Julius Caesar comes from when Antony addresses Caesars corpse right after he is assassinated in the play. We can see already that examples of apostrophe's do not have to be at a time of relaxation, where one is reflecting on something or discussing the "meaning of life" or something significant in their life. (As we may see in the example of Frost below). This apostrophe comes right in the heart of the climax of the play. Caesar has just been killed and Antony turns away from addressing the general audience and talks to the dead corpse of his beloved leader. It has a very emotional effect on the situation. Apostrophes are often associated with emotion from the one addressing the abstract or object. The corpse is personified as the "bleeding piece of earth", as Antony discusses how disgusted he is with the killers. This apostrophe allows for Antony to turn the focus of everyone (audience and characters) to what he is addressing. That is the effect apostrophes have. They are tied in with emotion and strong presence to make everyone around focus in on the abstract and feel the emotion with the person making the personification.
Robert Frost
"Tree at my Window"
But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,
And if you have seen me when I slept,
You have seen me when I was taken and swept
And all but lost.
Effects & Meaning: In this example from Robert Frost, he is addressing the tree directly. As we see from the definition this is an example of someone (the speaker) addressing a personified object (in this case a tree), as if it were really there. It seems as if the speaker is rather lonely. If there was someone with him, maybe he would talk to this person, tell them how he feels, however apostrophe's can often be found when there is a main focus on an individual and they turn to an abstraction (absent or present) and addresses it. It does not always have to be a situation where there is only one person, because as we find in some Shakespeare plays, there can be a group of people and one person addressing them who can make a sudden shift from the audience and the play to address this abstraction. Depending on the situation, it gives the poem more of a personalized effect. We can gain a possible understanding as to what the speaker of the poem is feelings or thinking. Turning the focus from the audience to this abstraction in a sudden manner will often gain the attention of the audience more, so in most cases what is being said in the apostrophe gets more attention. In Frost, nature is a major motif in his poems, so to find someone talking to a tree or something nature related is not uncommon. In this situation it seems as if the tree serves as a basis for the speaker to speak what he needs to and get out what he wants to say. What we will often find in Frost poetry, is if there is a lone speaker in a poem and they use an apostrophe, more often than not it will be nature related. Apostrophe's will often occur when one is addressing oneself to an abstraction, intimate object or the absent. It changes the shift in the poem and brings the focus onto this abstraction.
The Apostrophe Literary Term is a figure of speech in which someone absent or dead or something nonhuman is addressed as if it were alive and present and was able to reply.
Apostrophe: a sudden turn from the general audience to address a specific group or person or personified abstraction absent or present.
Apostrophe - Here are a few examples of apostrophes.
Shakespeare:
Julius Caesar
O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.
—Shakespeare, Julius Caesar 3.1.254-257
Effects & Meaning: This passage from Julius Caesar comes from when Antony addresses Caesars corpse right after he is assassinated in the play. We can see already that examples of apostrophe's do not have to be at a time of relaxation, where one is reflecting on something or discussing the "meaning of life" or something significant in their life. (As we may see in the example of Frost below). This apostrophe comes right in the heart of the climax of the play. Caesar has just been killed and Antony turns away from addressing the general audience and talks to the dead corpse of his beloved leader. It has a very emotional effect on the situation. Apostrophes are often associated with emotion from the one addressing the abstract or object. The corpse is personified as the "bleeding piece of earth", as Antony discusses how disgusted he is with the killers. This apostrophe allows for Antony to turn the focus of everyone (audience and characters) to what he is addressing. That is the effect apostrophes have. They are tied in with emotion and strong presence to make everyone around focus in on the abstract and feel the emotion with the person making the personification.
Robert Frost
"Tree at my Window"
But tree, I have seen you taken and tossed,
And if you have seen me when I slept,
You have seen me when I was taken and swept
And all but lost.
Effects & Meaning: In this example from Robert Frost, he is addressing the tree directly. As we see from the definition this is an example of someone (the speaker) addressing a personified object (in this case a tree), as if it were really there. It seems as if the speaker is rather lonely. If there was someone with him, maybe he would talk to this person, tell them how he feels, however apostrophe's can often be found when there is a main focus on an individual and they turn to an abstraction (absent or present) and addresses it. It does not always have to be a situation where there is only one person, because as we find in some Shakespeare plays, there can be a group of people and one person addressing them who can make a sudden shift from the audience and the play to address this abstraction. Depending on the situation, it gives the poem more of a personalized effect. We can gain a possible understanding as to what the speaker of the poem is feelings or thinking. Turning the focus from the audience to this abstraction in a sudden manner will often gain the attention of the audience more, so in most cases what is being said in the apostrophe gets more attention. In Frost, nature is a major motif in his poems, so to find someone talking to a tree or something nature related is not uncommon. In this situation it seems as if the tree serves as a basis for the speaker to speak what he needs to and get out what he wants to say. What we will often find in Frost poetry, is if there is a lone speaker in a poem and they use an apostrophe, more often than not it will be nature related. Apostrophe's will often occur when one is addressing oneself to an abstraction, intimate object or the absent. It changes the shift in the poem and brings the focus onto this abstraction.